The Muse's Kiss
by ArwenLalaith
Summary: Emily Prentiss - formerly Lauren Reynolds - is unwillingly assigned with the duty of finding the Grimms' fifth key and returning it to the Royal Families. If only she'd known how difficult a task that would turn out to be...
1. Chapter 1

**This fic isn't technically a crossover with Grimm (a show similar to Criminal Minds, if all the UnSubs were supernatural half-animal/half-human creatures), it simply is using the premise of the show. You don't need to have seen Grimm to understand; I will try to explain anything confusing as much as possible. I'll explain the different species at the end of each chapter, but if you want more information, the Grimm wiki is a great place to start and you can see pictures of them as well. If you don't understand anything and/or want more information, send me a PM.**

* * *

"Good evening, Lauren," a female voice, devoid of emotion, remarked as Emily shut the door behind her as she entered her dark apartment.

Emily knew that voice. But she refused to show the slightest bit of recognition or even surprise. "You must have me mistaken – my name is Emily."

She could practically hear the eye roll. "Lauren, please. I'm your mother; you don't think I recognize you, no matter who you pretend to be?"

Emily sighed. "You'd think my running away would've been enough of a hint to let you know that I don't care."

"I'd suggest you take a second to stop being confrontational and listen to me."

"Or, you could get out," Emily replied flatly.

Getting annoyed, her mother couldn't help the sudden change; it only lasted a moment before she brought it back under control. "You'll help me or I'll tell the Family where you are and let them deal with you. They're no Coyotls, but I'm sure you remember how they feel about deserters…"

Emily glared at her for several long moments before replying harshly, "I'm listening."

"Tomorrow, you're going to get a phone call. That position with the Behavioural Analysis Unit you applied for has gone through. One of your co-workers is descended from a long line of Grimms and will soon be inheriting the responsibilities of his heritage."

Emily stopped her, once again angry. "_You _used your influence to get me a job!? That is _not _how I wanted to get that position! I want to be seen for _my _merits, not your…"

Her mother changed again, annoyed at the interruption. "The Section Chief works for the Family. And I suggest you don't interrupt me again," she hissed and the two glared at each other. "As I was saying, your job is to earn the Grimm's trust, find and take his key, then kill him."

Emily narrowed her eyes and shook her head distastefully. "If I already have the key, why do I have to kill him?" She didn't so much care the reason, she just wanted to further irritate her mother.

"You'll do it because I've told you to." Her mother smiled with false sweetness. "The Family expects me to come through if I am to be accepted among them again and I will not let you ruin this for me. And to make sure you don't let us down, the Section Chief will be monitoring you."

That did not sit well with Emily. "Why don't you just send one of your Reapers after the Grimm? That's what their whole hood-and-cloak operation is about, isn't it?"

"Those idiots?" Her mother rolled her eyes. "They don't know the meaning of subtlety. Of course the Grimm is going to know they're after them if they run around carrying weapons engraved with death threats towards Grimms and painting scythes on everything…"

"And if I don't succeed?"

"I don't need to tell you how important it is to the Family that we recover the treasure. Failure to assist us will be considered treachery on your part. My attempts to ensure leniency on your part from the Family can only go so far. I can't be held responsible for their actions against you should you fail to give them what they want."

At that moment, the door to the apartment opened again. "Emily, love, is everything alright? I heard raised voices."

"I was just leaving," her mother said nonchalantly, brushing past her, staring past them as if they were beneath her. "Oh, and Lauren…" She paused as she crossed the threshold. "A Mauvais Dentes? You live to find new ways to disappoint me, don't you?"

* * *

"Where's Morgan?" Reid asked, sniffing the air, unable to smell his cologne.

"He'll be back tomorrow," Hotch replied, leafing through his files. "His aunt's funeral was yesterday."

Rossi looked up from the papers he was reading, peering over the top of his glasses. "With his aunt dead…" He paused, glancing around at who was listening to the conversation before continuing, "That means he will be starting the change. He won't be himself when he returns – I don't think the change is easy for anyone. As I'm sure you all know."

* * *

**Coyotl: **(Pronounced _kai-oh-till_) A coyote-like creature. They tend to kill anyone who tries to leave the pack.  
**Mauvais Dentes: **(Pronounced _mow-vay don_) A saber-tooth tiger-like creature.


	2. Chapter 2

Emily tentatively knocked on the open door of the conference room. She was early for the ten o'clock debriefing time and hadn't been expecting anyone to be there yet.

The room's occupant looked up with a squawk, startled. She woged, brilliant golden plumage ruffling across her head.

There were three kinds of people in the world that had the second sight: Wesen, Grimms, and the Royal Families. It tended to be pretty obvious if you one of the first two and if you weren't…well, you tended to become an automatic enemy. Emily had always had the second sight, even before she'd experienced the change for the first time due to her Royal heritage. That wouldn't exactly win her any points among the Wesen community – the only thing lower than a Royal would've been a Lebensauger.

No, she was a Royal, as much as she might try to deny it to herself and the world. Years of compartmentalization had taught her to closely control her micro-expressions when encountering Wesen so as not to out herself to potentially dangerous enemies. Thankfully, it wasn't all that often that she encountered one in woged form.

Still, she would've appreciated a little heads up that she was going to be working with one.

"I'm supposed to be starting with the BAU today," Emily said quietly once the woman seemed to recover from her start. "I'm not interrupting, am I?"

"Oh, no!" the woman assured her, "They should be in any minute; I'm just setting up the video link." She rushed over to Emily and enthusiastically shook her hand. "I'm Penelope Garcia, but you can just call me 'Your Majesty'."

Emily was left a little stunned by the introduction. "So, you're not part of the team?"

"Au contraire, I'm the most important part of the team."

She was about to further inquire about that, but was interrupted by the woman's squeal of excitement as she pushed past to nearly tackle someone in a hug.

There was a chuckle and a muffled, "I missed you, baby girl." The newcomer disentangled himself from the embrace. "I heard we've got a newbie on the team?"

"Come meet her, sugar!" Garcia dragged him into the conference room. "Morgan, this is…"

_Ahh, so this was _the _Derek Morgan, freshly minted Grimm._ There was a moment of awkward silence before Emily remembered she hadn't actually introduced herself to anyone. "Emily," she quickly supplied, extending her hand in greeting, "Emily Prentiss. I'm sorry to hear about your loss."

He frowned. "How'd you know about that?"

_Dammit. _She'd known him for all of ten seconds and he was already suspicious. "Agent Hotchner mentioned it when we discussed my joining the team," she lied, hoping like hell that that would be the end of the matter.

* * *

**Woge: **(Pronounced _vogue_) The act of changing between human and Wesen. Can be done consciously or unconsciously (when threatened or experiencing extreme emotion). Only the former is visible to normal human.  
**Wesen: **(Pronounced _vess-in_) The general term for all the different creatures visible to Grimms.  
**Lebensauger: **(Pronounced _lee-ben-sow-ger_) A leech-like creature. Generally disliked by other Wesen because of their repulsive appearance.


	3. Chapter 3

Derek Morgan had known he had the blood of a Grimm since he was six years old.

On his sixth birthday, his father had taken him into his trailer - just has he had when Desiree and Sarah had turned six - and told him of their heritage. It was a thrilling story of a centuries long war that had held his young imagination spellbound.

During the Fourth Crusade, knights serving the Seven Families returned from Constantinople with a treasure so powerful that they feared for the fate of the world should their masters gain control over it. Together, they hid the treasure and created a map that they split into seven pieces, sworn to protect it and the treasure it lead to secret at all costs. Those knights became the first Grimms.

Now that centuries had passed, though, the job of a Grimm had become more about policing the Wesen who refused to live in peace with the humans.

At the time, it had been more complicated that his six year old mind was capable of comprehending, but he liked the way it sounded. He'd been more interested in leafing through the journals of his ancestors and looking at the drawings of the different species of Wesen; the more grotesque the better.

What he really wanted, though, was to get his hands on the weapons, but his father steadfastly refused, to Derek's continued disappointment. He wasn't allowed to train with the weapons until he was sixteen; until then, his lessons consisted purely of theory.

But everything changed when he turned ten and his father was killed by a gang of Schakal robbing the convenience store of the gas station they'd stopped at to refuel.

After that, his Aunt Yvonne had taken over the Grimm duties and he and his sisters had been left to their own devices to train for their future responsibilities. Their mother had no knowledge of her husband being a Grimm, nor that her children would one day too share his responsibilities, so they'd had to sneak out to the trailer while she worked and hide books under their mattresses at night.

* * *

As a young prince of one of the seven Royal Families, Emily Prentiss's (or Lauren Reynolds, as she'd been named at birth) father had had a bride chosen for him since birth. The Families had been intermarrying for centuries in an effort to consolidate power into one house over the others.

But three months before the wedding, he'd met Elizabeth and her Musai side had other plans for him. It was obsession at first sight, rather than love, as tended to be the case with a Musai. All thoughts of the wedding and his betrothed were quickly forgotten as his infatuation grew, much to his family's displeasure.

Elizabeth was actually a Royal as well, but her father had been exiled from the Family for contaminating the bloodline by breeding with a Musai. The Royals prided themselves on subjugating the Wesen population and didn't look kindly on interbreeding. As a half-breed Elizabeth – and later Emily – would never be truly accepted.

After Elizabeth disappeared shortly after Emily was born, she had been raised largely by Seelengut nannies while her father was busy attending to the family business. Without her mother to teach her what she truly was and how to control it, her first woge was a harrowing experience…she'd never even heard of a Musai before when she first became one at the age of eight.

Without trying, that first year, she enchanted all the boys in her third grade class – they brought her flowers and cards and on Valentine's Day, none of the other girls in the class had gotten any Valentines. The problem came when she accidentally captivated her teacher; her father had picked up and moved them out of Italy before things could get out of hand.

As soon as she was able, she left her father and went in search of somewhere she'd fit in, somewhere she wouldn't be looked down on for something she'd had no control over, for being different. She hadn't known how hard it would be to find others like her. In France, she'd gotten lucky and found a woman who could teach her how to control her abilities.

She changed her name and her appearance and moved clear across the world to escape the Family and anyone they might send after her.

* * *

**Schakal: **(Pronounced _shack-ull_) A jackal-like creature. Tend to work in packs and are prone to thievery.  
**Musai: **(Pronounced _muse-eye_) An elfin creature whose lips secrete a psychotropic substance that causes victims to become obsessed with them and driven to madness.  
**Seelengut: **(Pronounced _zay-lun-goot_) A sheep-like creature.


	4. Chapter 4

Emily figured she should've known her first case would result in a small scale disaster.

Ian had warned her that first day to play things close to the chest, as far as her identity went. He was suspicious of the Grimm…but it wasn't the Grimm she was worried about, as much as the rest of the team.

She could feel their distrust and dislike radiating off them from the minute they walked into the bullpen. It was entirely clear that none of them wanted her there. She'd heard rumors that the reason there was an opening on the team was an incident involving the last girl, with whom they were friends – a Balam if the whispers were to be believed – who foolishly tangled with a Klaustreich who'd been seducing women around town.

"Everyone, this is Agent Emily Prentiss," Agent Hotchner addressed everyone seated with clear distaste and a dismissive wave. The Seltenvogel she'd met earlier smiled at her, the others responded with small nods in her direction, except the Grimm who was already eyeing her with suspicion.

The petite blonde woman they called JJ immediately introduced them to their next case. Three female victims in Portland with their eyes apparently sand-blasted, blinding them, and then strangled. No breaking and entering, two glasses of wine set out – the UnSub apparently having charmed his way in – and his prints and DNA weren't in any system.

"What exactly caused the blindness?" She hadn't been introduced to the young man who'd asked the question.

With the press of a button, the image on the screen changed to a slide image of little red barbed round worms. The tech girl was covering her eyes with her hand which Emily guessed wasn't unusual, but she guessed that the way JJ woged in what was likely disgust was a little out of character. "Nematode larvae," she said with a suppressed gag.

The young man again spoke up, "Those appear to be Onchocerca volvulus roundworms and they're only transmitted to humans through the bite of black flies which are only found in Africa… Garcia, have any of the victims recently been to Africa?"

"Nope, nu-uh, never even been out of the country," she said, finally looking up again as the image on the screen disappeared.

"So, we find the source of infection, we find the UnSub…"

* * *

Derek was admittedly taken aback a little when JJ woged; partially because no one had mentioned anything about her being Wesen, partially because he'd never seen anything like her, even in his father's books. If he couldn't identify her species, she had to be an extremely rare kind.

She looked almost alien like…even in the artificial light of the conference room, her translucent blue skin cast an eerie glow throughout the room. It was beautiful in a haunting sort of way.

He quickly cast a furtive glance in the new agent's direction, watching her reaction. Clearly, she was very well trained in schooling her features when startled, but he was equally well trained in detecting those reactions.

He saw her brows rise the slightest bit, but she wasn't looking at the screen. He was already suspicious of her sudden appearance, but if she had the second sight, his reservations were clearly justified. Especially given the timing, just days after his aunt died.

If this woman knew something – and she was clearly good at hiding what she knew – he'd just have to find out exactly what it was.

* * *

**Balam: **(Pronounced _baa-lam_) A jaguar-like creature. Prone to obsessive behaviour, especially when it comes to personal injury. Tend to act first, think later.  
**Klaustreich: **(Pronounced _klow-strike_) An alley cat-like creature. Women find them irresistible, but they're very possessive and abusive. Treacherous and highly aggressive.  
**Seltenvogel: **(Pronounced _zell-ten-vo-gull_) A bird-like creature. Extremely rare, to the point that they're believed to be extinct. Very timid.


	5. Chapter 5

During the flight to Portland, a new victim was rushed to the hospital, luckily still alive because her sister had interrupted the UnSub's attack before he could finish. She hadn't escaped with her sight, though and since the host was still alive, the worms were also alive and growing and they were stubbornly resisting treatment.

Emily wasn't sure whether it was good luck or bad luck that she'd been paired off with the Grimm to go interview the victim…and possibly for the foreseeable future, seeing as the Balam had been his partner. She _was_ sure that he was none too pleased to be paired with her, though.

When they got to the hospital, the victim was sleeping, knocked out by pain medication, but her sister was waiting for them and proved to be a valuable source of information.

"How's she been doing?" Emily asked in her victim interview voice. "Has she said anything about her attacker?"

"She yelled out his name in her sleep – Andre – but that's all she said."

"I know you already talked to the police, but can you please tell us what you saw when you went to your sister's house?" Emily could already see that the Grimm was a natural charmer with his soothing voice and compassionate eyes.

"I tried to open the front door, she said she'd leave it open for me – we just lost our dad and she was taking it really hard, I was coming over to cheer her up," the sister told them, "But the door was locked and I could hear her screaming inside. I looked in the window and saw her lying on the floor, begging for help; there was a man standing over her, but I just caught a glance at him before he moved. I ran around back and used the spare key under the mat to get inside and he ran when he saw me. I chased after him, but he got to his car and drove off."

"Can you describe her attacker?" The Grimm turned on his most charming smile and rested a gentle hand on her arm.

"Not really – white, average build, short dark hair…" She frowned. "He was wearing a sport coat and jeans." She must've guessed from his expression that it wasn't an extremely helpful description, so she added enthusiastically, "But I saw his car, I got a really good look at it!"

"Alright, good," Agent Morgan nodded.

"It was an old school Cadillac – bright red with a white roof, white stripe down the sides. It had big tail fins, like retro big. I didn't see the licence plates, but it was a really distinctive car."

Their conversation was interrupted by screaming and the three of them rushed into the hospital room where the victim had finally woken up. She was begging for someone to help her and blood was seeping through the bandages covering her eyes.

"We need a doctor in here!" Morgan shouted down the hall and several sets of feet came running.

The victim tore the bandages off revealing bloody sockets, her eyes entirely eaten away by the worms now protruding from her sockets, wriggling around in search of a new meal.

It took a lot to truly shake Emily Prentiss, but that sight had her running for the nearest garbage can and emptying the contents of her stomach. And like a gentleman, the Grimm swallowed his pride and rubbed her back until she was finished, then got her a drink of water. She had to admit maybe he wasn't entirely terrible.

* * *

Derek Morgan had seen a lot of unsettling things in his life: rotting corpses, mutilated limbs, disemboweled organs. At this point in his career, he was pretty good at putting the images out of his mind. But, for whatever reason, the image of those worms was stubbornly sticking with him; he saw it when he closed his eyes to try to sleep that night.

He clearly wasn't about to get any rest, so he went to his go bag where he'd stashed his father's books. The image of JJ's otherworldly appearance had stuck in his mind and he was determined to figure out what exactly she was.

While he didn't find any descriptions of glowing blue-skinned humanoids, he found something much more pertinent to the problem at hand.

_"Departed London April 16, 1905; arrived in Kenya May 20th, my third trip to the interior where I encountered one of the most fiendish Wesen known on the continent. It took me 14 days but I finally captured the beast that has been terrorizing the villagers._

"_He blinds the innocent feeding off their tears like an opium addict. The tribesmen call him Jinnamuru Xunte, which roughly translates to tear-stealing evil spirit, which I find ironic since until recently he was the local parish priest."_

One of his ancestors described a fly-like wesen from Africa that sprayed their victims with parasites in order to obtain tears, without which they experience withdrawal-like headaches.

_"When I removed his brain from his severed head, I discovered it was swollen, blackish, and covered with vile red worms._

"_The Jinnamuru Xunte will often revisit his victims targeting their family members whose tears are readily accessible."_

There was only one person he knew he could call without sounding completely insane talking about a human fly being their killer, one person he knew to be a Wesen. "Hey, Reid…what do you know about Jinnamuru Xunte?"

* * *

**Balam: **(Pronounced _baa-lam_) A jaguar-like creature. Prone to obsessive behaviour, especially when it comes to personal injury. Tend to act first, think later.  
**Jinnamuru Xunte: **(Pronounced _jin-a-ma-roo shun-tay_) A fly-like creature.**  
**


	6. Chapter 6

"So, my Chocolate Thunder mentioned something last night and I thought to my brilliant self, perhaps this is a clue, so I got to digging… Turns out, I was right: all the victims _did_ have a recent death in their immediate family. But…that's where the trail went cold. They didn't use the same funeral homes or lawyers or morticians or anything." Garcia pouted dramatically over the webcam.

"The UnSub could be targeting grief," Hotch posited, "That could also explain what triggered him to start killing in the first place, if he recently experienced a loss himself."

JJ pulled something out of an evidence box. "This is the last victim's dayplanner – she had a grief support group listed for the night of her attack."

Morgan shared a look with Reid. Last night, they'd both agreed that these murders sounded like the work of a Jinnamuru Xunte and grief support groups would be the perfect place for one to scope out victims that were a ready supply of tears.

"Garcia, how many grief support groups are in the Portland area?" Morgan asked.

"There are eight different groups meeting today…and that's not including meetings for drugs, alcohol, etcetera."

"We should send officers to each of the meetings and ask about an Andre," Morgan said, "He's probably already hunting for a new victim, especially since he wasn't able to complete his last attack."

Hotch nodded. "JJ, I want you to contact the families and ask about grief support groups the victims may have attended. The rest of us will start checking out the meetings."

* * *

"Red Caddy." Reid indicated the parking lot from the backseat as the SUV pulled up to the curb. He pulled out his phone to alert Garcia and have her run the plates.

"Looks like the meeting just let out," Emily pointed out as she climbed out of the passenger seat. They scanned the crowd of people spilling out of the building, looking for someone that fit the UnSub's description.

"There!" The Grimm took off towards the door as a man who'd exited with his arm around a woman's shoulder spotted them and spun around and ran back into the building.

Emily followed close on his heels, down the corridor and up a flight of stairs, almost crashing into Morgan who'd stopped short on the second floor, having lost sight of the UnSub. With a silent nod, she followed the wordless command that the three of them split up to explore both sides of the hallway and the third floor above.

Once she'd slowed down and the sound of her footsteps stopped pounding in her ears, there came a distinctive buzzing noise and she followed it to a classroom, inside which she could see the UnSub flitting from window to window like a trapped fly.

"I got him!" she shouted down the hall, but she had no idea if either agent was close enough to hear her. She tried the door knob, but it was bolstered with a chair wedged against it.

That's when the UnSub realized she was there and his chance to escape was running out. He picked up a desk and moved to throw it out the window. Before he could, she'd kicked the door open and had her gun leveled at his chest.

"Stop! Put it down! Hands over your head! Get on your knees!" She holstered her weapon and got close enough to cuff him, twisting one arm behind his back. That's when things all went pear-shaped.

He rotated his head around and woged so she was staring into the bulbous insectoid eyes of a fly, his skin wrinkled and brown, wiry antennae-like hairs protruding at all angles from his scalp. Her horror at his disturbing visage was cut short, though, as his blew a fine red mist into her eyes.

Stunned and in pain, she stumbled backwards and let go of her grip on his wrist and he took advantage of her bewilderment and resumed breaking the glass with the desk. Her vision swam, unable to see beyond a film of red with black shadows, but she made a desperate attempt to grab him before he escaped through the window.

Moments too late, the Grimm came running in, demanding, "What happened!?" He watched her stumble forwards and caught her before she hit the ground.

"He blinded me!" she exclaimed, her vision reduced to a sea of red and then complete darkness, "I can't see!"

Finally, Reid joined them, looking through the broken window to catch sight of the UnSub sprinting off. "He's running." He glanced back in their direction. "Should I call an ambulance?"

Morgan shook his head. "There's nothing they can do for her…"

* * *

**Jinnamuru Xunte: **(Pronounced _jin-a-ma-roo shun-tay_) A fly-like creature.**  
**


	7. Chapter 7

"Do you know if there's a cure?" Hotch asked Morgan, voice a low whisper. He glanced over his shoulder to where Emily sat, staring into a light to slow the worms' growth. "JJ, make sure she keeps her eyes open."

Morgan turned to Reid who shrugged apologetically. "I had to tell him… It's okay, he's one of us."

Hotch nodded. "Jagerbar." But he didn't offer any further clarification on the subject. "We've known about you for a long time. Do the books say anything about a cure?"

Morgan moved across the hotel room to the door annexing it to his room and returned with the books. He returned to the page describing the Jinnamuru Xunte. "There is a cure…but it's not pretty."

Reid moved to read over his shoulder. "We need to pull out its eye!?"

Morgan nodded. "We need the antibodies only the host carries – that's why he's not blind."

"Well, that should be a piece of cake," Rossi said sarcastically, "Just pull out the eye of a known serial killer."

"That's not the hard part," Morgan said, his brows creating a deep furrow in his forehead. "He has to be alive and in _full woge_ when we remove it. And we have to do it within the next four hours or it'll be too late to save her sight."

"Delightful." Rossi's expression was full of sarcasm. "And how the hell are we going to do in four hours what we couldn't do in two days?"

"Now we know what he is," Morgan pointed out. He was starting to realize being a Grimm was more work than he'd anticipated, especially if hunting Wesen UnSubs was going to be a regular thing.

"Garcia searched for this Andre using the license plate, but it appears he used a fake name because that's all she could find on him," Reid informed. "Everything was paid for using cash."

"We spoke to the facilitators of the support groups and they all described him as telling the same story of losing his wife to bone cancer. They don't remember much else except that he had an accent – either Australian or South African," Hotch said. "If the story is true, that could've been his trigger."

Morgan frowned. "Accents can be faked. And so can sob stories. Especially by sociopaths."

"Local police reported a carjacking about a block away from where he was last seen. There's an APB out on the plates, but he could've already switched vehicles again." Hotch's expression was especially dour. "He knows that we've figured out where he finds victims, he could easily just go underground and find somewhere else to start killing once we've stopped looking."

"Or he could have a psychotic break and go on a rampage because he wasn't able to complete a kill for two days…" Morgan pointed out. "Neither outcome looks particularly good for us."

Reid's eyes suddenly lit up and he reached for the book. "It says here: _'The Jinnamuru Xunte will often revisit his victims targeting their family members whose tears are readily accessible.'_" With a look, they all seemed to reach the same conclusion at once. "The last victim had a sister that fits his type."

Emily was up and out of the chair, grabbing her jacket almost as soon as he'd finished speaking. Hotch was just as quickly vetoing it. "No, you need to stay here."

"I have to come," she argued. "He makes this noise – I know what he sounds like, I can help."

"She has to come," Reid interjected. "Apparently the salve is only viable for a few minutes after the eye is removed; we'll have to apply it immediately."

"Fine," Hotch said with an expression that made it clear he wasn't happy about it, "But you have to stay in the car."

* * *

**Jagerbar: **(Pronounced _yay-ger-bar_) A bear-like creature. Typically civil and non-hostile, living peacefully among humans. Tend to be lawyers and politicians.**  
Jinnamuru Xunte: **(Pronounced _jin-a-ma-roo shun-tay_) A fly-like creature.**  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**To the reviewers who asked: Confetti Leaves and I have no plans to now or in the future continue with the episode tags in our So It Goes-verse. We're happy with the place it ended and the sense of finality and completeness it has. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a happy ending in this iteration, but there are plenty of our fics that do. Thanks for your interest in said 'verse.**

* * *

"Urgh…" JJ wrinkled her nose in disgust as Morgan used a metal spoon to remove the Jinnamuru Xunte's eye from its socket.

"Hurry up," Reid urged, holding his gun trained on the UnSub's motionless form, "Before he wakes up."

"I'm going as fast as I can," Morgan retorted, "It's not like this is the first time I've scooped out some guy's eyeball – oh, wait, it is." He was kneeling over the unconscious UnSub, pinning his arms down with his knees, trying not to pop the multifaceted orb as he prised it out of the socket.

"You're lucky you can't see this," JJ said to Emily who sat blindly on the floor of the sister's attic where they'd cornered the UnSub after he'd attempted an attack. JJ handed Morgan a jar of ingredients and he mashed the eye into it, creating a lumpy red paste.

Emily tried her best to follow their movement by sound. "That crap smells like vomit."

"And it's going to burn like hell," Morgan replied, slathering it onto a blindfold and tying it over her eyes. "You've gotta wear it for a few hours for the antibodies to take effect." He held onto her elbow and helped her to stand.

She wobbled slightly, unbalanced without the ability to see. She waited until JJ and Reid took the UnSub down to the police cruiser waiting outside, then sighed, ready to admit she had misjudged him. "Thank you…" she said quietly, leaning up and kissing his cheek, "I guess I owe you one for saving my eyes."

He laughed. "You can buy me a drink and we'll call it even."

* * *

"I know what you are."

"Excuse me?" Emily looked up sharply as Agent Rossi slid into the seat across from her on the jet. Her sight had returned, but her eyes still burned a little, preventing her from getting some sleep like everyone else.

Rossi smirked. "Relax, I won't blow your cover. I imagine that's for the Grimm's sake?" She didn't reply, but he wasn't expecting her to. "You've done an excellent job of hiding it, given who you're working with."

"Get to the point," she snapped.

"I've met my share of Musai," he said nonchalantly. "You're the first I've met who doesn't flaunt it."

"How do you know?" Her brows were raised suspiciously.

He shrugged and smiled knowingly. "I imagine it's because of the similar biology." At her blank look, he added, "You and I aren't that different. True, Musai secrete a psychotropic substance and Ziegevolk like myself emit pheromones, but we use them to achieve the same purpose…to _seduce_."

"You may know what I am, but you don't know _anything_ about me."

* * *

**Jinnamuru Xunte: **(Pronounced _jin-a-ma-roo shun-tay_) A fly-like creature.  
**Ziegevolk: **(Pronounced _zee-ga-volk_) A goat-like creature. Extremely charming, able to captivate and seduce women with their pheromones, can make people open to suggestion. Arrogant.


	9. Chapter 9

It was nearly midnight when the jet finally landed back at Quantico and, while everyone else was eager to return home and get a good night's rest, Morgan found himself wide awake and restless, like he'd drank an entire pot of coffee. He was buzzing with renewed energy in a way he couldn't remember ever having felt.

He sat behind the pockmarked maple desk in the trailer, hardly able to sit still. It was remarkably similar to the first time his father had let him sit there and he'd been bursting with excited energy, desperate to get his hands on anything within reach until he'd been reprimanded that it was serious and none of the things in the trailer were toys – most, in fact, were deadly weapons and he could die if he weren't careful inside the aluminum walls.

His first intention that night was to add to the journals he'd inherited. He had been trying to make it a habit to document his experiences as a Grimm in hopes of passing his knowledge to the next generation like his father and his father's father had done before him. But the harder he tried to focus on the page before him – previous entries where encounters with Jinnamuru Xunte had been recorded – the more his mind wandered.

Emily Prentiss had taken hold of his mind and refused to let go.

He'd been professional at best in his dealings with her, mostly for the sake of the team's cohesiveness, but he had made it no secret that he didn't trust her as far as he could throw her. He was not someone who trusted easily, which had served him well thus far in life, but it made creating a new partnership – especially one that often put not only their lives, but the lives of others in danger – especially difficult.

She hadn't exactly been receptive either and had been more than clear that she had no intention of backing down in the face of his confrontational attitude. She also hadn't let it interfere with the job they had to do, which he had to admit he admired. She'd even willingly put her life in his hands, despite having known him less than a week.

She was clearly an impressive and complicated woman. One which prevented him from focusing on anything else. What was supposed to be a journal recording his every contact with the Wesen community had become a sketch pad for visions of his muse under her influence.

His mother was a talented muralist and he had often watched her paint when he was younger, before she'd been forced to become the sole wage-earner of the family after his father's death. When she'd given him the chance to try for himself, they'd discovered that he had inherited some of his mother's gift. Drawing became second nature for him and although he was never anywhere near as talented as his mother, she'd always encouraged him to continue.

He'd stopped drawing after his father had died, forced to take on the role of man of the house, there was no time for anything that didn't protect his family's future. His father would've wanted him to continue, knowing that it made him happy, but he couldn't find the passion with him gone.

Until now. This new agent had somehow found a way to ignite that passion in him again.

He'd started off just doodling absent-mindedly, but it had turned into a quick sketch of her. But it hadn't been perfect. It hadn't accurately captured what he suddenly realized was an other-worldly beauty.

He was determined to recreate her image perfectly, every last detail: the slight wave of her hair at the end of a long day, the way she bit her lip when she was concentrating hard, eyelashes so long they nearly kissed her cheek every time she blinked, the dimple in her right cheek that was much more pronounced than the one in her left when she smiled.

One sketch turned into two and two turned into three…he couldn't get it exactly perfect no matter how hard he tried. But the more he drew, the more he felt connected to her, the more he liked her. He couldn't see how anyone so beautiful could be bad.

He'd been foolish to ever doubt her in the first place. She was perfect.

* * *

Emily flopped face-down on the mattress, still fully clothed, intending to sleep for at least the next twelve hours. She couldn't remember ever having been this tired before in her life.

She heard a quiet chuckle from the other side of the bed, but couldn't quite find the energy to lift her head. "Rough day, love?" he asked, turning on the bedside light.

Without moving, she mumbled an indecipherable reply, muffled by the blankets in her face.

"Come here," he said gently, in the tone of voice he reserved solely for her. She looked up to smile appreciatively at him and he gave a slight start in alarm at her appearance. "What happened?"

She brought her hands up to the angry red swelling around her eyes, having forgotten. "Fucking fly Wesen," she grumbled.

He nodded. "I take it you had an interesting first case?" She gave him an annoyed look as she wriggled out of her jeans.

She moved to sit down in his lap and went limp against his body. "Not only am I working with a Grimm, but also a Ziegevolk, a Gluhenvolk, and a Seltenvogel."

He raised a brow. "Are you serious? A Gluhenvolk _and _a Seltenvogel? Gluhenvolk are extremely rare and Seltenvogel are supposed to be extinct…are you _sure _that's what they were?"

"I know what I saw. I'm more worried about the Ziegevolk – he knows I'm a Musai and I don't trust him."

"All Ziegevolks are assholes," Ian said darkly, "But they're not that bright. All they care about is getting into women's pants. Don't let him distract you from your purpose there; your only job is to find the key."

"I know," she sighed wearily.

"Which reminds me – your mother has been calling incessantly." He didn't need to look at her to know Emily was rolling her eyes. "She's sending someone to keep her updated on your progress."

She groaned audibly. "Did she say which of her lackeys she's sending?"

"The Nuckelavee..."

* * *

**Jinnamuru Xunte: **(Pronounced _jin-a-ma-roo shun-tay_) A fly-like creature.  
**Ziegevolk: **(Pronounced _zee-ga-volk_) A goat-like creature. Extremely charming, able to captivate and seduce women with their pheromones, can make people open to suggestion. Arrogant.  
**Gluhenvolk:** (Pronounced _gloo-in-volk_) An alien-like creature. Ancient species that has been hunted to near extinction for their glowing skin. Belevolent species that hate to kill, even by accident.  
**Seltenvogel: **(Pronounced _zell-ten-vo-gull_) A bird-like creature. Extremely rare, to the point that they're believed to be extinct. Very timid.  
**Musai: **(Pronounced _muse-eye_) An elfin creature whose lips secrete a psychotropic substance that causes victims to become obsessed with them and driven to madness.  
**Nuckelavee:** (Pronounced _new-ka-la-vee_) A horse-like creature. Have no qualms against theft or murder, willing to do anything to accomplish the task assigned to them. Common servants for the Royal Families.


	10. Chapter 10

If they were truly sending a Nuckelavee, the Family clearly meant business. The kind of business that meant if she couldn't produce the key soon, it wouldn't just be the Grimm's life on the line. But what they were asking her to do couldn't happen overnight, no matter how urgent a matter it was for the Family.

As a child, she'd heard rumors about some of the higher ranking Family members keeping them as prisoners in their basements and feeding them raw meat until they hungered for flesh, then sending them to rip their enemies limb from limb.

Emily, of course, had known it was ridiculous – they didn't eat flesh and if any Wesen were going to be used for such a purpose, the Family would choose a considerably more dangerous one, like a Lowen or a Hundjager. But that didn't stop the rumors that a Nuckelavee was behind her father's rise to power.

Of course, if anyone did have a cannibalistic half-human monster in their basement waiting to serve the Family's every whim, it would be her Mother. That's why Emily was concerned – even if he was a Grimm, she owed Derek Morgan a great debt for saving her – and while she still intended to find his key, she couldn't let him be ripped limb from limb.

Her attempt to convince her mother to call off her beastie, though, wasn't going all that well.

"_Are you fucking kidding me, Mother?" Emily demanded loudly into the phone, "A Nuckelavee!?"_

At the sound of shouting, Ian peered cautiously into the bedroom and found Emily on the phone, pacing angrily.

"_No, it's _not_ reasonable! It's been a _week_, for God's sake!"_

He caught her eye and raised a brow questioningly. She just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"_So, what did you expect me to do? If you wanted someone to gut him and run, use your damn Reapers – you _specifically_ told me to gain his trust, _then_ take the key, that was the whole point in interfering with my career."_

'Kill me,' she mouthed to Ian, miming slitting her throat.

"_Even if he wasn't a Grimm, he's still a _cop_, and you seriously thought he'd trust me in less than a week? Do you seriously have no idea how normal people function!?"_

She leaned against the wall and sank down to the floor. He sat down on the bed, watching her becoming increasingly aggravated.

"_And how exactly is a Nuckelavee supposed to help with him trusting me? The damn thing is going to kill him, that's what they do! And good lucking finding the key then…you could burn his house, his car, his desk, and everything he owns to the ground and still not find it. What makes you so sure he's even got it in the first place?"_

"Want me to hang up on her for you?" he offered, only half joking. She gave him her signature 'not impressed look'.

"_Fine! Do it your way! But when your monster kills him and has nothing to show for it, don't you dare blame me!"_

She shut her eyes and pressed the knuckles of one hand against the sockets.

"_Either let me do what you so kindly ordered me to do and accept that it's not going to happen overnight or hire someone else to do it quickly, but leave me the hell alone!"_

She hung up the phone and yelled what she wouldn't dare say to her mother's face, "Oh, fuck off!" Emily shrieked and threw the phone onto the bed in her anger. She turned, fists balled in her hair, and found him smirking at her frustration. "That goes for you too, buddy."

He laughed, knowing she didn't really mean it, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, mashing her against his chest and kissing the top of her head. "Having a little disagreement with your delightful mother?"

"You're not funny," she grumbled.

* * *

Morgan had just arrived home from the trailer when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. There were only two people who called all hours of the night and he had a feeling he was going to be regretting that night's lack of sleep.

"What is it, Hotch? Do we have a case?"

"Not sure yet," he admitted, "But I want you to check it out…"

"Should I wake up Prentiss and take her with me?" Derek was briefly thankful Hotch couldn't see his expression over the phone, knowing he was grinning foolishly at the mere mention of her name.

"No, for now, this is purely Grimm business."

"No offense, Hotch, but I don't really take orders on how to be a Grimm, even if you are a Jagerbar."

Hotch's eye roll was almost audible. "You've been a Grimm for all of a week, if I were offering you advice, you'd be wise to take it. At the moment, though, I'm merely concerned for your safety."

"Hotch," Morgan scoffed, "I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself."

"Morgan, this is an order. Your job is to keep the humans safe from the Wesen world and protect the treasure – your safety concerns us all. I've just spoken with my brother. Sean is a member of the Laufer – an underground Wesen resistance group working to oppose the Verrat. They've received word that the Royals have sent one of their minions to DC. And that can only mean they somehow know you're here."

Morgan frowned. "So, to protect my safety, you want me to walk right into their trap?"

"Believe me, you're going to want this fight to be on your terms."

* * *

**Nuckelavee:** (Pronounced _new-ka-la-vee_) A horse-like creature. Have no qualms against theft or murder, willing to do anything to accomplish the task assigned to them. Common servants for the Royal Families.  
**Lowen:** (Pronounced_ low-in_) A lion-like creature. Aggressive, competitive, violent, terrible tempered. Known to eat humans.  
**Hundjager:** (Pronounced _who-nd-yay-ger_) A hound dog-like creature. Vicious and calculating, common servants for the Royals. Feared among Wesen. Known to randomly kill humans.  
**Reapers:** Society of bounty hunters dedicated to killing Grimms. Mainly troll-like Wesen called Hasslich. A specialized division of the Verrat, serving the Families.  
**Jagerbar: **(Pronounced _yay-ger-bar_) A bear-like creature. Typically civil and non-hostile, living peacefully among humans. Tend to be lawyers and politicians.  
**Laufer:** (Pronounced _low-fur_). A resistance movement opposing the Verrat and the rule of the Royal Families. Mainly centered in Europe, but growing in the States. Composed of multiple cells working together; human and Wesen members.  
**Verrat:** (Pronounced _verr-aah-t_) Powerful Wesen organization serving the Royal Families. Formed by the Royals at the end of WWII to protect them and police Wesen. Mostly composed of Hundjagers.


End file.
